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referred by the child care resource and referral agencies across the state to increase program quality as it relates to language development, literacy, responsive caregiving, and developmentally appropriate learning practices. The Infant and Toddler Program also plans to continue the activity training series to train 150 teachers a year for the next three years. The Lead Agency’s Child and Family Development Program provides training and resources on developmental milestones and developmental monitoring for child care professionals using the CDC’s Learn the Signs, Act Early initiative and works with a team of Family Peer Ambassadors to provide information and resources on child development to families and child care providers within their community. The Lead Agency plans to recruit and train 20 Family Peer Ambassadors per year across the next three years. The Lead Agency plans to use CCDF funds to continue the Thriving Child Care Business Academy online training platform for child care business owners and administrators and expand its offerings during the next state plan period, including adding between three and five new trainings and associated resources. These future trainings will be informed by feedback from biannual surveys and interviews with child care business owners and stakeholders. ii. Developing, maintaining, or implementing early learning and developmental guidelines. [ ] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [x] Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. As described in Section 6.3, the Lead Agency provides a training series and resources for using the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) to inform instruction. Moving forward, the Lead Agency will have two key priority areas for continued use of the GELDS. First, the GELDS trainings will be expanded. Existing trainings are currently being revised, and training topics related to the GELDS will be increased. Second, based on recommendations from the previously described Workforce Taskforce, the Lead Agency will begin reviewing the existing standards for next steps. iii. Developing, implementing, or enhancing a quality improvement system. [ ] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [x] Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. Georgia's primary mechanism for measuring quality is Quality Rated (QR), the state's quality rating and improvement system, which launched in 2012. Programs are assigned a one-, two-, or three-star rating based on five standards submitted via an electronic portfolio and an independent observation using the Environment Rating Scale (ERS) family of instruments. The portfolio measures structural quality, including standards for teacher and director qualifications, family engagement, nutrition and health, intentional teaching practices, and ratios. A team of assessors conducts the ERS observations and another team scores portfolios and assigns ratings. Ratings are valid for three years, at which time the rating process is repeated. Currently, more than 2,800 providers are Quality Rated including 72% of licensed child care centers and 47% of family child care homes. CCDF providers who are eligible for a rating are required to be rated or in the process of earning a rating. DECAL has contracted with external research partners at Child Trends and the